Now that all current federal politicians have disclosed their citizenship, and the citizenship of their parents and grandparents, all sides of the parliament have started pointing accusatory fingers at those they say should be referred to the High Court.

Politicians who may have been entitled to citizenship of a foreign power at the time of nomination at the last election may be ineligible to sit in parliament under Section 44.

The growing number of MPs facing citizenship questions raises the prospect of a "super Saturday" set of by-elections early in the new year, if the High Court finds the MPs were ineligible.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Labor of running a "protection racket" for several MPs who may have been dual citizens at the election. Prior to disclosure, Labor leader Bill Shorten had insisted that Labor's vetting process was thorough, however after the disclosures yesterday, the following Labor MPs are the subject of citizenship doubts:

David Feeney

The Labor member for Batman in Victoria, David Feeney, can't seem to find the documentation that proved he renounced his British citizenship prior to entering the Senate in 2007 (he later moved to a lower house seat).

Feeney told parliament he is prepared to go to the High Court if he can't find evidence he renounced. If there is a by-election in the inner-Melbourne seat, Feeney could potentially lose it to the Greens, as he won the seat by less than 2,000 votes on two-party preferred vote and lost on the primary vote.

Josh Wilson

Labor MP for Fremantle in WA, Josh Wilson, was born in the United Kingdom. He renounced his citizenship, but the renunciation didn't come into effect until June 29 last year, putting it past the June 9 closing date for nominations.

Labor is arguing that MPs should not be at the mercy of the UK Home Office, and when its public servants can process renunciation forms. It says Wilson had taken all reasonable steps as required to renounce citizenship.

Katy Gallagher

Labor senator Katy Gallagher is in a similar situation to Wilson. She did not receive confirmation she had renounced her British citizenship until after the 2016 election.

On Wednesday morning Gallagher said she had received no advice that she was ineligible to sit in parliament, but said that due to ongoing attacks from the government she had decided to refer herself to the High Court.

Justine Keay

Labor member for Braddon in Tasmania, Justine Keay, is one of four Labor MPs potentially being referred to the High Court because of dual citizenship with the UK via her father. Keay renounced her citizenship but did not receive confirmation until July 9, 2016 – well after the 2016 election and the close of nominations.

Emma McBride

Labor's member for Dobell on the NSW Central Coast, Emma McBride, had Irish citizenship before the 2013 election which she said she had renounced, but the MP has not provided any documentation to prove it.

Ed Husic

The parents of Labor MP for Chifley in Western Sydney, Ed Husic, were born in the former Yugoslavia. The country no longer exists, however the Daily Telegraph has said Husic has not shown documentation to prove he had renounced.

On Sky News on Wednesday Husic said it was absurd, and asked whether he was expected to hold a "seance" with the former country to get that renunciation.

Susan Lamb

The Labor MP for Longman in Queensland attempted to renounce her British dual citizenship, but the UK Home Office refused to accept it, saying Lamb had not shown she was entitled to citizenship, despite her father being born in Scotland.

Mutually-assured destruction means that as the government now targets Labor MPs, Labor is also gunning for several Liberal MPs to be referred to the High Court over their own citizenship. They are:

Jason Falinski

The Liberal MP for Mackellar in Sydney, Jason Falinski, said in his declaration form that he had consulted with the Polish consulate and UK High Commission about potential citizenship issues, but provided no documentation.

Josh Frydenberg

Environment minister and Liberal member for Kooyong in Melbourne, Josh Frydenberg, claims he has received advice from both Poland and Hungary that he isn't entitled to citizenship by descent from either country, but has not provided any documentation or advice to this effect.

Julia Banks

Julia Banks, the Liberal MP for Chisholm in Victoria, has provided a letter from the Greek Embassy suggesting she is not a "registered member" (i.e. a citizen), but Labor says the letter is not enough evidence to prove she renounced.

Arthur Sinodinos

Double ditto for Liberal senator for New South Wales, Arthur Sinodinos, however Labor has said it will hold off from referring the industry and innovation minister to the High Court until he returns from being treated for cancer.

And then there is the one cross-bench MP under a citizenship cloud:

Rebekha Sharkie

Nick Xenophon Team MP for Mayo in South Australia, Rebekha Sharkie, renounced her UK dual citizenship prior to nomination, but did not receive confirmation until June 29, well after the confirmation date.

Josh Taylor is a Senior Reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Sydney.

Share on Facebook
Share on Facebook
Share
Share on Pinterest
Share on Pinterest
Pin
Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Twitter
Share on Twitter
Share
Share on VK
Share on VK
Share
Share on LINE
Share on LINE
Share
More
More

We value your privacy

We and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at anytime by returning to this site.

BuzzFeed

Information storage and access

The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.

Personalisation

The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.

Ad selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

Content selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

Third-party vendors

Information storage and access

The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.

View CompaniesHide Companies

Company

Lotame Solutions, Inc.

OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates

The Rubicon Project, Limited

Index Exchange, Inc.

comScore, Inc.

DoubleVerify Inc.​

LiveRamp, Inc.

Taboola Europe Limited

PubMatic, Inc.

Outbrain UK Ltd

EMX Digital LLC

Nielsen Marketing Cloud

Google (DFP / AdX)

Personalisation

The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.

View CompaniesHide Companies

Company

Lotame Solutions, Inc.

OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates

LiveRamp, Inc.

Outbrain UK Ltd

EMX Digital LLC

Nielsen Marketing Cloud

Google (DFP / AdX)

Ad selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

View CompaniesHide Companies

Company

Lotame Solutions, Inc.

OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates

LiveRamp, Inc.

Outbrain UK Ltd

Google (DFP / AdX)

Content selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

View CompaniesHide Companies

Company

Lotame Solutions, Inc.

LiveRamp, Inc.

Google (DFP / AdX)

Measurement

The collection of information about your use of the content, and combination with previously collected information, used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of the service. This does not include personalisation, the collection of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, i.e. on other service, such as websites or apps, over time.